About Us
Community Advocates for Struggling Learners (CASL) is a family support and advocacy group.
The mission of CASL is to provide emotional and informational support to families of struggling learners; and to inspire change within our Monroe County school districts, reaffirming the partnership between families, teachers, staff and the school administration.
Our vision is to establish a network of people throughout the Rochester Area and Monroe County -- caregivers, legislators, teachers, field experts -- who understand the emotional turmoil of parents/caregivers seeking support for their struggling learners.
Additionally, CASL seeks to:
establish a library of resources that will assist caregivers to access services for their children; as well as
provide learning opportunities about advocacy, different learning/reading disabilities, and methods that work.
Defining "Families"
The term “families” encompasses all adult caretakers, not just parents or guardians.
“Family Engagement is a full, equal, and equitable partnership among families, educators, and community partners to promote children’s learning and development from birth through college and career.” per Dr. Karen Mapp.
Defining "Struggling Learner"
The term “struggling learner” refers to students who are experiencing great difficulty in order to accomplish the same task or learn the same thing.
Reasons for difficulties in learning :
There are many possible reasons for the child’s struggles. They may have physical disabilities that affect sight, hearing, mobility, or coordination. Or they may have learning differences such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, or auditory processing disorder. Interestingly, a struggling learner may be gifted in some areas, such as a child who is amazing with math but does not read.
One very common reason for learning struggles is that the child has not yet been taught in a way that works for them. The educator needs to adapt their instructional approach to meet the needs of the children they serve. From All About Learning